Voters Not Politicians, the nonpartisan, grassroots group that led the successful campaign to end partisan gerrymandering by politicians in our state, has continued the work to strengthen democracy by engaging people across Michigan in effective citizen action.
Right now, strengthening democracy means ensuring every voter can exercise their fundamental right to vote.
This November, for the first time in a general election, every Michigan voter has the constitutional right to choose to vote by absentee ballot. Absentee voting is a safe, simple and convenient way to vote early.
Despite the politically-driven rhetoric, absentee voting has a long track record of security and enjoys overwhelming support from Republican and Democratic voters alike in the states that have all-mail elections.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, voting by absentee ballot is one of the best ways voters can safeguard their health and the health of election workers and the in-person voters who will be at polling places on Election Day.
We applaud Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson's actions to encourage absentee voting. No one should have to choose between their health and their right to vote.
Voters Not Politicians and other citizen groups are doing our part by working with clerks in many communities to extend their office hours and open satellite locations on nights and weekends so more voters can vote early by absentee ballot at those locations.
We are also educating voters on using and advocating for additional secure drop-off boxes where voters can drop off their absentee ballots, to address concerns with the U.S. Postal Service.
But with time running out, our state legislators have not done their part. Our VoteSafe campaign has engaged our volunteer army, which was so vital in passing the state constitutional amendment that created the Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission, to urge lawmakers to take action on four key common-sense bills:
- Senate Bill 756 to allow absentee counting board poll workers to work in shifts.
- SB 757 to allow clerks to open the outer envelope of an absentee ballot the day before the election to help speed up an accurate absentee ballot count.
- HB 5987 to allow ballots to be counted if they are postmarked on Election Day as long as they are received by the clerk within 48 hours after the polls close.
- HB 5991 to require clerks to notify a voter if there is an issue with their signature on the absentee ballot envelope so the voter has enough time to correct the issue.
We need to see action on all of these to set up our 2020 election for success. Michigan saw a record-breaking 2.5 million voters who cast ballots in the August primary, up 13 percent from the August 2018 primary — attributable in large part to the increase in absentee ballots.
We've already seen historic numbers of absentee ballots requested across the state for the November election. Accurate but speedy vote counting is important to assure the public that our democracy is working.
Voters Not Politicians has a broad, pro-democracy agenda. We are currently backing efforts to make politicians more accountable by including the executive office and lawmakers in the state's Freedom of Information Act, and we will be looking at additional actions to improve our democratic institutions in the months and years ahead.
But voting is the bedrock of our democracy. For years, politicians in the United States have taken steps to deny the right to vote to many. It is only through citizen action, including marches, rallies and sit-ins, that we have expanded the vote to women and people of color. It took the citizen-initiated Proposal 3 in 2018 to extend no-excuse absentee voting for all in Michigan.
We should all be able to agree that democracy works best when more eligible people vote. Voters Not Politicians will continue to fight to bring down barriers to voting. We urge all who support democracy to join us.
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September 27, 2020 at 11:04AM
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Commentary: Priorities should be making voting easier for all - Crain's Detroit Business
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